"Barca have to do credible things to sign Messi"

La Liga president Javier Tebas declared on Thursday that, on a personal level, he would "like" the Argentine Messi">Messi to return to Barcelona, although he admitted that the organisation he heads "does not give free rein with economic control, whoever" the player is.
La Liga's top executive discussed Barcelona's current financial situation, which is preventing them from making big spending on signings.
"Here we don't look at whether they provide documentation for Messi or Mbappe. We don't look, as they say, if La Liga give free rein. What is clear is that there is economic control and to sign players you have to comply with it," said Tebas, during the presentation of the annual economic report of the 2021-22 championship.
"On the one hand, you can sign if there is a balanced budget, one to one, and for that Barcelona have to make a very big effort to contain spending. The other is the 40% rule. In those two ways they have to fit what they want to do. That's not where we operate. If they fit one or seven in that amount we don't interfere," he said.
"For both there must be spending restraint. You have to do credible things or you will have to sign with 40% of the savings. We don't talk about whether it's Messi or not. I would particularly like Messi to come but La Liga doesn't look at whether he comes or not," he said.